SpaceX is getting ready to launch a Falcon 9 rocket with an undisclosed variety of satellites on behalf of the Nationwide Reconnaissance Workplace (NRO). The spacecraft, that are believed to be Starshield satellites, make up the third batch of what the NRO calls its “proliferated structure.”
Liftoff of the NROL-113 mission from Vandenberg Area Drive Base is about for 8:20 p.m. PDT (11:20 p.m. EDT, 0320 UTC). Spaceflight Now could have dwell protection starting about half-hour previous to launch.
The Falcon 9 booster supporting this mission, tail quantity B1063, shall be launching for a twentieth time. It beforehand supported the launches of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Check (DART), the Transporter-7 rideshare mission and 14 Starlink satellite tv for pc missions.
The mission marks probably the most seasoned booster to launch a nationwide safety mission on behalf of the NRO. The earlier report was the NROL-146 mission, one other Starshield launch, which liftoff off on B1071’s sixteenth flight.
About 8.5 minutes after liftoff, B1063 is about to land on the SpaceX droneship, ‘Of Course I Nonetheless Love You.’ If profitable, this would be the one hundredth touchdown on this droneship and the 345th booster touchdown to this point.
“That is NRO’s third proliferated structure launch inside 4 months, demonstrating the fast tempo of supply for these programs,” the NRO wrote in a Sept. 4 social media publish.
The NRO plans to launch about six missions for this proliferated constellation in 2024. Its most up-to-date launch got here on June 29, 2024.
